After a brief pause, with his mind a bit foggy, Nick bit his tongue hard to snap himself back to reality. With effort, he managed to pull a syringe from his pocket. His hand shook almost uncontrobly as he injected the adrenaline into his vein.


    Two minutester, Nick felt strength gradually seeping back into his body. But he knew it was just a temporary boost, courtesy of the adrenaline-it wouldn''tst long. He needed to get out of the research institute before the effects wore off.


    Voices floated in from outside, and Nick nced down at his disposable protective suit, slowly peeling it off. Underneath, there were faint traces of blood that had seeped through.


    Taking a deep breath, Nick decided not to remove the inner protectiveyer. Instead, he flipped up the cor of his ck turtleneck sweater, adjusted it a bit, and grabbed the down jacket hanging nearby, slipping it on. He balled up the blood-stained protective suit and tossed it aside before opening the changing room door and stepping out.


    His colleagues had already changed back into their clothes, leaving their protective suits casually draped over a nearby chair. Nick quickly scooped them up and tossed them into the trash can, earning a chuckle from his coworkers as they all headed out.


    The test subject from the experiment had been moved to an adjacent observation room, and someone was tidying up the shelves. Only Manuel and Ben were left in theb.


    Nick was about to say goodbye when Manuel approached him directly. "Mirabe, right? Don''t rush off just yet. We need to talk about today''s patient in my office."


    "Sorry, I might need to head out early," Nick said, fiddling with his fingers.


    Manuel frowned. A researcher should prioritize the institute''s tasks, he thought. "I won''t keep you long," he insisted. "We just need to wrap up the surgery data."


    Nick met Manuel''s firm gaze and, after a moment, reluctantly nodded. Satisfied, Manuel patted him on the shoulder and went to change.


    Nick''s expression stayed unchanged as he left theb, leaning against the wall, his eyes somewhat lifeless Since Manuel had only asked for him, his two colleagues and the


    chief soon left.  swnovel


    Manuel returned shortly, now in different clothes. His office was on the seventh floor, and they took the elevator up.


    The adrenaline would only keep Nick


    going for about twenty minutes. Yet, once in the office, Manuel got caught up reviewing documents with other professors, dying their discussion.  swnovel


    Time dragged on, and Nick sat slumped in a chair, his hand slipping off the armrest repeatedly. Ben, mid-conversation with Manuel, happened to nce at Nick and noticed his drained expression and ghostly pale face-a telltale sign of significant blood loss.


    belongs to swnovel


    Ben''s eyes narrowed with suspicion. Breaking off his chat with Manuel, he walked


    over to Nick. As he approached, a faint metallic scent hit his nose.


    Was that... blood?